Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 10 Review: Rubincon

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 10, “Rubincon,” sees the Federation contend with Nus Braka’s terrifying plan. Meanwhile, fences are mended between our core characters, and, once again, audiences are treated to an acting masterclass between Holly Hunter and Tatiana Maslany. It’s a solid conclusion that ties narrative loose ends to an overall rocky inaugural season. 

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, “Rubincon”

No, the episode title isn’t a misspelling — it’s a play on “Rubicon,” and these characters undoubtedly venture past the point of no return in the season finale. After the Doctor implements Training Mission Hermes 19 (and makes himself greater), he emerges the worse for wear.

At face value, it appears he’s muttering nonsense, a string of unrelated words, including mistakenly calling “Rubicon” “Rubincon.” It takes SAM and Jay-Den to interpret the Doctor’s mutterings, which are crucial to dismantling Nus Braka’s Omega-47 mines. The Doctor’s words being the key to it all isn’t wholly unpredictable from an audience standpoint, but it’s fun watching our crew crack the code. 

Pain, Pain, Pain 

The performances really are the highlight of “Rubincon.” Tatiana Maslany brings her A-game, and she plays off Holly Hunter so well. Anisha’s pain, as is Nahla’s, is tangible. Nus mentions “trauma loop,” and it’s abundantly clear that grief is the crux of this season. Anisha grieves the time she lost with Caleb. Nahla grieves the choice she made to tear a family apart and the loss of her son. 

Even the cadets grapple with pain, both fresh and old, in Season 1. SAM struggles with her identity. Genesis feels the weight of lofty expectations as the daughter of an admiral father in Starfleet. Tarima struggles to control her gifts. Caleb grew up alone and on the streets, separated from his mother. Jay-Den lost his entire family. 

What’s great about the trial scenes in the finale is that Nahla and Anisha make space for each other’s pain. Hunter is an excellent listener — a true gift for an actor. She receives as much as she gives. Nahla exudes a quiet authority while exhibiting boundless empathy. 

Life Outside of Survival Mode

Caleb’s journey comes full circle in “Rubincon.” He’s not the same young man we met in the series premiere. The found family element in this coming-of-age story is a boon to the narrative. Caleb learns to relax into his new inner circle and realizes that he’s loved beyond measure. He also doesn’t have to run anymore. He discovers what life can be like when one is not in survival mode. 

The bond between the cadets is the glue that holds it all together. While it took me a hot minute to warm up to this group, by “Rubincon,” I’m rooting for them all. I’m even coming around to Caleb/Tarima as a couple. Once they started truly listening to each other and getting out of their own way, they worked as a pair. 

While getting all the cadets on board the Athena is a bit of a plot contrivance, it’s a blast to watch them flourish under Jett Reno’s command. She’s the perfect instructor for their final exam, one that’s more hands-on and high-stakes than they expected. There’s nothing like having a front-row seat to a bridge crew working through a life-or-death situation. 

Pure Villainy 

Paul Giamatti is still a bit over the top as Nus for my liking — too Shakespearean, mustache-twirling villain at times — but his subtler moments really land. When Giamatti digs into Nus’s pain and taps into that quiet rage, when you strip away his strangely 21st-century, anachronistic quips, you get a sense of who Nus is.

Uneven performance aside, he’s Paul Giamatti. You can tell he’s having a blast cutting his teeth in the Star Trek universe, and it’s a delight to watch him go toe-to-toe with Hunter and Maslany. (Although his best episode as Nus is still “Come, Let’s Away.”) 

“Rubincon” is brimming with depth and heart while exploring the Federation/Starfleet as a metaphor for colonialism and capitalism. While I would’ve liked to go deeper with this exploration, I understand that Nus=bad guy, and the series had to resolve his plotline (at least for the time being). 

“Rubincon” proves that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has a ton of potential to be truly great. When everything fires on all cylinders, it soars. Season 1 is replete with growing pains, as any new series is. It embraces the Trek that came before it while leading us into a new, uncharted frontier for this franchise. Change is inevitable. Nothing can, or should, remain stagnant. 

May this series continue to grow and boldly challenge what we know in Season 2 and beyond. 

Stray Observations: 

• That Talaxian Furfly is out of control. Get your sh*t together, Specialist Krebs.
• The score playing during the scene when Tarima connects with Caleb to find Anisha is absolutely gorgeous. What a beautiful string arrangement. 
• “Leap clear of all that is corporeal and make yourself greater” is a paraphrase of the quote by Hermes Trismegistus. The actual one:  “Leap clear of all that is corporeal, and make yourself grown to a like expanse with that greatness which is beyond all measure.” Eh, Nahla didn’t have time for the full quote. 
• Is there a better instructor than Commander Jett Reno? I think not. 
• Love that SAM revived a dead language to make friends. Baller move. (Time to learn Tamza.)
• Nus Braka wouldn’t last a second in a room with Lieutenant Commander Lura Thok. She’s a badass. 

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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 is now streaming on Paramount+. 

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